Rogue ISO Leg Press vs TITAN plate loadable tower V2
This is a comparison of the Rogue Iso leg press and the TITAN plate loadable tower including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.
Overview and review of the TITAN Plate loadable tower V2 $409
This is an overview of the TITAN Plate loadable tower V2 including pros, cons and alternatives. This article was originally posted in Which gym machine to get from TITAN. Follow the links for additional information.
Related articles
Overview of the TITAN loadable lat tower
- Dual 13-inch weight posts fit Olympic weight plates
- Four adjustable positions for the thigh pads will fit athletes of all body types
- A durable steel frame and powder-coated paint job deliver a sleek look that will last for years to come
- Four Bolt down holes give you the option for permanent mounting in your home or garage gym
- Includes lat bar and low row handle
- Overall Height: 84-in.
- Overall Depth: 56.5-in.
- Overall Width: 48-in.
- Loadable Sleeve Length: 13-in.
- Lat Handle Length: 37.5-in.
- Low Row Handle Length: 15-in.
This is a great budget option for any home gym or Iron den where people know what they are doing. It can even be used in a commercial with less experienced clients, as the plate loading mechanism is not as exposed as with other TITAN machines.
Pros of the TITAN loadable lat tower
-
Price
-
Handles included
-
Stable design
One of the main arguments to go for TITAN products is the low price for industrial grade gym machine. The
TITAN plate loaded lat tower makes no exception to this rule. For me, it is one of the better machines you can get from TITAN as it is stable and the pulley work is not as exposed as for the
Cable crossover machine.
Another bonus is that the lat bar and row handle are also included in the price tag. You can shell out up to $200 for these items each depending on where you get them.
This whole machine is more stable than some of the other TITAN machines in the lower price range. I would definitely get this any day over the
Cable crossover machine from TITAN.
Cons of the TITAN loadable lat tower
Plate loaded machines are great when you are the only user or this is not a lot of people around who frequent the machines. If you run a gym with peak times and people falling over each other, than you want the weights on the machine rather than separately on a plate tree.
The
TITAN plate loaded lat tower is designed for pulling motions only. You can not adjust the pulley to make push movements possible. This lmits the range of exercises you can do with this machine. This becomes especially relevant when this is the only machine you intend to buy for your home gym. Here the f
unctional trainer from TITAN might be the better choice.
As with all TITAN machines they have been produced with the average human in mind to save costs. Other vendors like Eleiko and Rogue think of the biggest possible human who could use their machines and build their machines around that. If you are 6 foot tall and weigh more than 250 pounds you might not like the seat on this or even rock the entire machine when you do your berserker mode pulls.
Alternatives to the TITAN loadable lat tower
The
TITAN lat tower is a clone of the Rogue lat pull at a substantial lower cost. This is the lat pull machine to get for the commercial gym that puts the machine through a lot of abuse or the home gym fanatic who listens to heavy metal while pulling 300 pounds for sets of 20.
The
TITAN wall mounted pulley is in my opinion one of the best options for a budget focused home gym to get all of their pulling needs covered. It is safer then some of the other makeshift machines from TITAN and costs less. The only downside is that it does not come with a seat and needs to be drilled into the wall to work.
The
TITAN plate loadable functional trainer is the optimal compromise between budget and functionality, especially for the home gym. The pulley work as a little too exposed for most commercial scenarios and
plate loading also does not help the case here.But in a home gym where you already own the
plates and want to cover all of your accessory this is ideal.
Conclusion for the TITAN plate loadable lat tower
The
TITAN plate loadable lat tower is a great option for the home gym owned by the average joe, as long as space allows for it. A professional gym might be better off with the functional trainer. If you lack space in your home gym for a while park of machines you might want to consider the
plate loaded functional trainer as it eats up similar space, but offers more options on exercises.
Overview and review of the Rogue ISO Leg Press
Price: 4.750
This review was originally posted in the longer article "Which strength equipment to buy from rogue" in which you can read about 25 products of Rogue which cost more than 1.000$. The Rogue ISO leg press is a machine for the advanced athlete to perform the leg press. See the details in this article.
Related articles
Overview of the Rogue ISO Leg press
The
Rogue Iso Leg press is one of the products of Rogue
which have recently appeared in the portfolio. In my opinion, you can clearly see that Rogue wants to use the
Lat pulldown machine,
Prone Leg Curl and
ISO Leg press to gain market share in the commercial gym sector to diversify their business beyond CrossFit gyms. While Rogue has already mastered the mass production of
barbells and
rigs, the production of big machines is done more manual. You might get a cheaper, more refined machine from somewhere else who has specialized in these for decades. Still, this will be most likely not American made and definitely not fit the rest of your Rogue gym setup.
The future looks promising as the
Rhino Belt Squat has been a great release with a positive reception in the market. I am sure rogue will take the new technological developments from the
50 cals (locking system) and the
Rhino (Pulley System) to create more refined machines in the future
which will take over the market.
The
Rogue ISO press can load up to 2475lb and has four load pegs. Rogue claims a 60% true weight ratio for the
leg press. Machines are often criticized that too much of the load gets lost and does not have an effect on the lifter. This is why you see some people on Youtube leg pressing a bunch of
plates and four Chinese girls on a
leg press machine. They have better leverage than in a
barbell squat.
The
Rogue ISO leg press weighs 708lbs with a footprint of 64'' x 98''. It is 98'' long, 64'' wide and 47'' high.
Pros of the Rogue ISO Leg Press
Rogue has paid attention to the feedback from other machines by working on the true weight ratio. The four loadable pegs will go down well with your stronger clients who like big machines and also cannot find sufficient machinery in other gyms.
The fact that each leg can be addressed individually will be interesting to rehab clients and professional athletes alike. Not many
leg press machines bear this feature.
You will also get a
machine that has been made by American hands in Columbus. There is quite some work to be done to finish this beast and you will always know that this has been done by an American.
Cons of the Rogue ISO Leg Press
The
leg press machine is a single purpose machine with a relatively big footprint. This does not make it a suitable option for most gyms with a small footprint. You will also be buying outside of Rogues core business with less volume. Expect that customer services have fewer options to help you out with parts/replacements/repairs as the order volume on these is lower. There is less storage to draw from and all parts are welded together for the
ISO (
which means if you want to return it, they probably have to weld another from scratch or move someone else's order).
For this price, especially if you buy multiple, maybe ask Rogue whether you can inspect the machines on site before delivery. Bring your biggest and smallest athlete/client&relative, Based on the test ask whether small alterations can be made before the machines are finished (coated etc) and shipped.
How many clients should this leg press bring you?
If you think that the
ISO leg press will bring you 16 new clients who pay you 50$ on a 1-year retainer it is worth the investment. This will yield 9.600$ net new revenue against an investment of 4.750$. Adjust the numbers for your own gym accordingly.
Alternatives to the ISO leg press
Here are some alternatives to the
Rogue Iso leg press which come in at roughly the same budget.
The
Rogue Wingspan Rig only costs about 250 USD more but is an all in one gym for that price. You have a
pull-up station,
rack, lots of storage room, a
crown pull up bar for various grip variations and space to store up to five
barbells. While the
ISO leg press is on one end of the spectrum as a leg training giant, this is one of the most versatile options from Rogue in the same price range.
This would be an alternative for a weightlifting gym that has no need for
pull up bars and has a lot of space. You have to teach your clients how to drop a
bar safely when there is enough room. The
Rhino belt squat can be used by athletes with shoulder injuries or for heavy squats/volume work. It still loads enough weights for mere mortals.
The belt squat is the poor man's version of the
leg press. It does more for balance and natural movement patterns and can not be loaded as heavy as the
Rhino Belt Squat or
Leg press machine. If you already have
jerk blocks or pylo jump boxes this is probably the most cost-efficient version to get close to a
leg press. Be aware that the setup is tedious and the injury risk is high if you do not assist your clients in setting this up.
Conclusion
With the Rogue Iso Leg press you will get a fully welded, American made leg press machine. The specialty of this leg press machine is that you can work one leg at a time or both optionally. With some extra space to add plates to the leg press and special attention to a maximum carry over of the weight to the lifter this leg press is for serious gyms that do not want to compromise.